The key to successful viral marketing

Viral marketing is set up on the basis of the ripple effect.Drop a rock in the water and see how far it spreads.Using this type of marketing can be a huge advantage to your budget.And your sales won't feel left out either.

But, for every good thing spread voluntarily, there are three bad things.People love to share information they get with their friends, bad more so than good.You need to make sure that viral marketing is working to your advantage.

Here are some ways to increase the effectiveness of your viral marketing message.Note that you may not necessarily use all of these for your specific message, but some are important to all messages.

- The best way to attract attention is the word FREE.People are always looking for a bargain, and there isn't a bigger bargain than free.You don't have to be giving away products, it can be a simple service.Give away a free newsletter, electronic greeting card, or even free information.
- With your free give away you aren't going to forget to include your link.Give them away to get back to you when they want to.If you are offering your articles to be posted on others sites, then make sure that there is an easy passage back to you.
- Make sure that it is easy for people to transfer your message.If you are using true viral marketing, then your message should spread like a virus.Make it something they almost can't help but spread around.
- Have your message be something that people are dying to share with their friends.If it is easy to share, and they really want everyone to see or hear it, then it will burn out of control like a fire.This may be a funny email or a sound clip that includes your company name.
- Well, everybody is doing it.Isn't that the mentality of society these days?Take advantage of that.Make it the new "cool" thing that everyone is doing.Start a new trend, everyone loves a trend setter.
- You know people are very social, with very few exceptions.This means that they talk to a lot of people regularly.Make your message part of something that happens every day.Kids and adults alike text message thousands of times a day, what would happen if your message got forwarded through even one network of friends?
- Another proven idea is to ask for referrals.If current consumers are satisfied with you then they will be more than happy to let you talk to their friends.This won't work for creating a client base, for obvious reasons, but it is a creating way of expanding your client base.
- Are you benefiting from the referrals you are receiving?Maybe the benefits should work both ways.You will get even more referrals if the consumer giving the referrals is rewarded.This can be a discount on products, free products, or even a simple thank-you card.

If you are going to be using viral marketing and it works effectively, you need to be prepared for exponential growth.Be sure that if this is effective that you can grow with your customer base, but beware.Don't expect a huge customer base and get too far ahead of yourself, grow with your customer base.

Remember that the more of these points you include in your marketing the more potential it has.It doesn't matter what your message is, if you can create an idea that everyone likes, you will get the growth you want.